Mass Effect Andromeda Series II

Chapter 33

Garrus stared down at the message that Kelly Chambers given him from Andromeda. The message itself seemed pretty casual but he knew it wasn't sheer coincidence that this was sent just after the fatal encounter with Sidonis. He knew she was working with C-Sec and they would be all over Orbital Lounge. Only Andromeda knew about Garrus' past with Sidonis or so he thought. Would she put two and two together and turn him in? Was the message a setup? Shaking his head, he put down the data pad and looked back across the room in deep thought. She wouldn't do that to him. Besides the killing of Sidonis was justified. He deserved it…his men deserved peace.

Hearing someone clear his throat behind him, he whirled around to see Tali standing there. How long had she been standing there? He didn't even hear the doors to the room open. "Everything okay, Garrus?"

"Yeah," Garrus sighed as he glanced back over at the data pad again. "I'm fine. Is there something you needed?"

"Oh," Tali paused. "You mean Shepard didn't tell you?" She laughed nervously. "How silly. I should have waited until the mission of course."

"Mission?"

Tali stood there quietly and exhaled softly. "I have been summoned by the conclave on charges of treason." Her voice shuttered on the last word.

"Treason? For leaving the Flotilla and joining Cerberus?"

"No, no. Besides I'm not with Cerberus. Just Shepard and you. Kal left that part out in his report from Haestrom. They stated that I have brought active Geth to the Migrant Fleet."

Garrus was stumped. "Did you?"

Even though the helmet hid her face, he thought he could see the shock that filled her. "No. I never would do that. Every part I sent back I made sure it was inactive. I would never risk my family and friends. Shepard told Joker to head to the Flotilla so we could talk to the admirals. If we don't go soon then they will have the hearing without me. I could be…exiled…."

"We?"

"That's why I came down here. I asked Shepard to take you along. He and you are the only ones I can trust. You know me, Garrus. Please…I beg you."

Garrus smiled warmly seeing his old comrade and friend look at him. "You know I'm with you, Tali. I'm sure everything will work out."

"I hope you are right…if I am exiled…I can no longer go back to the Flotilla."

The hearing seemed to be an ambush once they reached the Migrant Fleet. The proceeding admirals definitely had it out for Tali especially the one in the pink suit, Admiral Koris vas Qwib Qwib. They accused that due to Tali's actions, active Geth seized the lab ship that her father was working on. Luckily, Shepard stepped to defend her and the admirals agreed that if Shepard and his team retook the Alarei.

Getting back up from where he was sitting, Garrus moved to where Shepard and Tali were left standing. Tali was trying to hold it together, but he could tell she was shaking with fear. Fighting Geth was not easy and if the Quarians on the Alarei were not armed, then the possibility of their survival was slim to none. "Come on, Tali. Let's go save your father," Shepard was frustrated in how the admirals waited until Tali arrived to advise of the situation of her father. He could tell that this upset her greatly. She nodded sadly as she followed. Taking up the rear, Garrus looked around as he tried to find some words of comfort.

Koris held up his hand to stop them. "Judging by your ability to play to a crowd, human, I have done Tali a favor by stripping away Vas Neema from her name," The admiral spat.

"Shepard, this is Admiral Koris Vas Qwib Qwib," Tali introduced them with no real love in her voice.

Koris stood up straighter and put his hands behind his back. "I take no pleasure in this, Tali. Truly. You have gravely endangered and dishonored our fleet.

"

"Yeah right," Garrus muttered under his breath. Luckily, the Quarian in front of them did not hear him.

"You should have us let us destroy the Alaerei. That would be the solution."

"My father could be still alive there!" Tali screamed. "How can you just let him die?!"

Garrus reached out to relax her but she moved away. He knew she wanted to save face before her people. He glared hard at Koris. "How can you accuse Tali of this? Do you know what she has done with Shepard in the fight against the Geth?"

"I know her history of the battle against Saren. I respect immensely. Her actions against him are to be lauded. But like her father, she wants nothing but the destruction of the Geth…the people we created. The people we wronged."

"They drove us from our homeworld," Tali shot back.

"Of course…we tried to kill them." Koris shook his head. "This turmoil needs to end."

Sighing hard, Tali was reluctant to argue any further on the matter. "I see your point, Admiral. I don't agree with you, but I see your point."

"Qwib Qwib?" Garrus contemplated out loud as he suddenly recognized the ship that Koris led.

"Please don't…" Tali looked at him as she cupped her face with her hand.

"Is there a problem with the ship's name, Turian?" Koris looked over at him with his covered up face.

"I meant no offense. I met a young Quarian on his pilgrimage while on Omega. He was from the Qwib Qwib."

"Omega? That disgusting pit?" Koris was taken back in shock. "Why would he be there?"

Garrus shrugged, "Beats me. Didn't turn out well for him. He was stranded and trying to sell what he could salvage to get off the station."

"A pity. I will see if we can find a scout to locate him but I will not put my people's lives by going there."

Biting his tongue for a rebuttal, Garrus cringed as he spoke the words, "That would be good, Admiral."

"Let's get going," Shepard cut off the conversation and motioned them ahead. "We need to take that ship back."

Once onboard the Alaerei, the Geth wasted no time in attacking. Each room was crawling with them and dead Quarians. It was a blood bath. Still no sign of Tali's father, which gave them courage to keep pushing ahead. Becoming alarmed that they were becoming low on ammo clips, Shepard moved to Tali once the coast was clear. "How much of the ship have we cleared?"

Pulling up her omni tool, Tali viewed a hologram of the ship's schematics. "We are near the main lab that is located at the back of the ship. I'm hoping father locked himself inside."

Nodding his head, John turned the corner to head up the stairs, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the slain body of a male Quarian. Garrus was the next one to see and his heart stopped. Seeing the way Shepard look at the corpse, he knew the awful truth. This Quarian had to be Tali's father. Moving around to see what they were looking at, Tali gasped, "Father!" She fell to her knees and tried to check his body for any sign of life. "No. No….this can't be! He was going to make it…he was strong."

"Tali. Being this far, he must have held his position and fought hard," Garrus softly said to her. He couldn't even imagine what it felt to lose a parent. Now he knew how Andromeda felt on Eden Prime even if she was a small child. His father and he didn't really speak since his dad located back to Palaven.

Deep in his musings, he didn't realize that Shepard and Tali were listening in on her father's last recording and he caught the tail end of it as his father said, "I love you Tali Zorah."

"I love you too, dad," Tali wept.

"Let's get going. We need to avenge his death," Shepard patted her on the shoulder as she rose up from where she was.

"Right behind you, Shepard," She sniffed.

"Couldn't be that much of them now, right?" Garrus tried to clear the air as they made their way up the stairs. It was hard to stay positive right now, even for him.

In the next room stood the last remaining Geth: two Geth troopers and a Geth Prime! "You just had to say that!" Shepard darted out of the way as the Prime quickly attacked them. The human switched to the Collector Rifle and used the pulsing laser to lower the Geth's shields. A mechanized growl came from the towering bot.

"Tali, knock out those two!" Garrus pointed to the two troopers behind the Prime.

"Go get them," Tali ordered her drone as she launched it. The glowing sphere moved ahead and opened fire. Tali added in with her own cryo ammo.

Garrus focused his fire on the Geth Prime with Shepard. They would have to work together to take down this beast. The Prime roared as it was being hit on both sides. It raised his arm to launch its own turret but its shields couldn't withstand the punishment. Within seconds, its systems went offline and the form collapsed.

The lab was now quiet and all could be heard were the ship's internal systems. Tali ran over to the terminal to see what information was recorded. Shepard joined her side as Vakarian looked around at the different Geth parts on tables. He thought back to what Koris was talking about. The Geth were robots, how could he sympathize with them? After Shepard and Tali reviewed the last video, Tali turned to her commanding officer in alarm. "Shepard, we can't show this to the admirals!"

"Tali, your father was deliberating activating the Geth. This had nothing to do with you," John protested. "I won't have my crewmate have this dishonor."

"This will destroy his name. Shepard, please…" Tali teared up.

"Tali, if your father was doing these tests then you know it was against your law. Why take the fall for him?" Garrus looked on.

"Because he was my father…"

"We won't decide here. Let's head back and I'll give it more thought," The Commander downloaded the information to his own omni tool.

"You're my captain and I respect your decision. But please don't destroy what my father was…."

"Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened there?" Admiral Han'Gerrel questioned during the proceeding.

Garrus looked over at Shepard from where he was sitting to see if he could read his friend's face. If Shepard released the information, it would clear Tali, but destroy her father's name, but if he didn't, it would lead Tali to exile among her people. It was a tough decision and one he believed he would be unable to make during the short time period. John was hard to read and he saw Tali almost plead to him softly about what to say before he stepped forward to answer. "Tali's achievements are the only evidence you need," The short haired man spoke out. This caused a disarray among the spectators as people started to protest and talk wildly amongst themselves. "Garrus, Tali, come on. We're leaving." He turned to walk away.

"This is a formal proceeding!" Koris shouted back in complete shock.

"No, this is a sham!" John pointed back at them. "You're trying to get sympathy for the Geth in the upcoming war."

The admiral looked back at them incredously as the other admirals looked on with interest. "N-no. That is absurd!"

"All of you have plans for the war and none of you agree! Go play with your toy ships but leave my crew out of your political bullshit! We have no new evidence. You can accept Tali's word or you can exile the Quarian who helped save the Citadel from the Geth."

Garrus couldn't stifle his slight chuckle hearing his Commander's words. "I couldn't have agreed more."

"Then we vote?" Han'Gerrel looked at the others, exhausted. After each admiral took a moment to input their vote, he looked over where Tali stood rubbing her hands nervously. "Tali, we do not have sufficient evidence to put you in exile. You are clear of all charges. Commander Shepard, thank you for taking the time for representing one of our people."

"I hope you will take this time to do what is right." John looked up at the admiralty board.

"We will drink a toast once we take back our homeworld," Han said.

Once the trial concluded, everyone started to depart. Garrus stepped down to congratulate his friends. "Thank you, Shepard, for speaking for me. And thank you, Garrus. I needed you guys."

"Come on, Tali Zorah vas Normandy. Let's head back. I think we are done here."